This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for processing data, especially adapted to process the analog data available from chemical analyzing apparatus or the like and to display the result of the processing in both figures and characters.
The analyzing apparatus for obtaining the information on the components contained in a sample to be examined, often detects the peaks appearing with the lapse of time. One example is a chromatograph. In a conventional chromatography the areas under the component peaks of the chromatogram are obtained by integrating the analog signal from the detector, the concentrations of the components are calculated according to the obtained areas and the result of the calculation is printed on the rolled paper. On the other hand, the waveform as chromatogram is plotted on a chart paper. Accordingly, the rolled paper and the chart paper must be inspected together when the usable information is required.
The Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 12796/73 discloses a prior art apparatus which is an improvement on the display system in which a transparent tape is used for characters, the speed of advance of this transparent tape is set equal to that of the chart paper, and the tape carrying thereon the result of the calculation expressed in the form of characters are stuck on the chart having a chromatogram thereon, after the completion of the analysis. With this apparatus, the handling of the final data is indeed facilitated, but there still remains a laboriousness in sticking the transparent tape upon the chart paper with both in proper registration with each other. Moreover, this apparatus needs both a chart recorder and a printer so as to process the data from a chromatograph.
Recently, there has been developed a data processing apparatus for a gas chromatograph, which plots a chromatogram and prints the annotating characters expressing the result of analysis, on the same paper, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,011 which has been issued after the filing data of the corresponding Japanese Patent Application of this application. However, this apparatus, in which the means for drawing chromatograms is always kept in contact with the paper, has a poor ability to follow up waveforms. Moreover, in this apparatus, the sensitivity cannot be changed while any chromatogram is being drawn, so that if the sensitivity is so set as to be suitable for major components, the peak profiles for minor components cannot be recognized while the sensitivity set suitable for the minor components causes the amplitude of the peak of the major components to be out of scale.